Ante-Bellum Wilmington and War Between the States
The nearly 80 years between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars was a time of increasing wealth and population for Wilmington. With about 1,000 people at the start of the period, and over 5,000 at the end, Wilmington was the largest town in what was then known as the Rip Van Winkle State. Wilmington may not have had an economic explosion, but neither was she sleeping.As in colonial times, the port shipped lumber and naval stores from the region's pine forests. Added to that was the profitable growth in the cultivation of rice and cotton. Commerce was active enough to spawn the creation of several railroads. One, connected to Weldon, Virginia, was the longest in the world. The city was also connected by scheduled steamboats to Charleston, Baltimore and Philadelphia. A packet boat traveled the Cape Fear up as far as Fayetteville. (About 100 miles.)
The essence of these years was the stuff of everyday life. Churches were built, dignitaries welcomed, the river dredged, epidemics and fires battled, and a couple of duels fought. Wilmington was a peaceful and prosperous place, cultured for its size, the social and commercial center for the surrounding plantations.
The 1860's saw the political strife of more than 40 years turn violent as the Northern states refused to allow the Southern states their own government. The struggle elevated Wilmington to national, even international, prominence.
Almost immediately at the start of hostilities, the North had declared a blockade of Southern ports. This was a serious threat to Southern hopes of independence. The agricultural economy of the South would not be able to support a war effort without imports. A way had to be found to keep a stream of supplies coming in. Wilmington came to play a crucial role in that effort.
The Cape Fear at the time had two channels to the ocean, separated by Frying Pan Shoals. That meant blockaders had to cover two widely separated points to close the river. To enhance their advantage, Confederates built Fort Fisher and a system of other forts to protect ships entering and leaving the harbor. Fort Fisher was an immense earth work, 20-30 feet high and 1900 yards long along the ocean. It's huge guns kept the Northern fleet far enough from the shore to allow blockade runners to slip past the enemy ships. Once the cargoes were discharged in Wilmington, the city's rail links could move the supplies to other parts of the Confederacy; most particularly the much fought over Northern Virginia theater.
Many of the ships that ran the blockade were designed especially for the task. Long, low and fast, painted gray or black, they burned anthracite (smokeless) coal to reduce their visibility. Every inch of deck and hold space was crammed with cotton and naval stores on the outbound trip, war supplies and luxury items coming back. They were usually headed for Nassau or Bermuda where their cargoes would be moved to another ship for transport to Europe. Profits were so great that a couple of runs would often pay for the ship.
The blockade runners gave Wilmington an international flavor. Their foreign crews, often English, plied the town in fancy clothes, drinking expensive imported liquor, and amusing themselves with pranks and cockfights.
The excitement came to a temporary halt in the late summer and fall of 1862. One of the blockade runners brought in Yellow Fever. Almost all activity in the town came to a halt. By the time the epidemic had run its course, over 300 people had died and three times that many had been infected.
Wilmington remained open until the last months of the war. Finally, in January of 1865, the Union navy staged a massive bombardment of Fort Fisher, followed by an assault. After some intense fighting, the fort fell, followed by Wilmington a few weeks later.
Sources: http://www.ego.com/us/nc/ilm/history/ab.htm,
http://www.ego.com/us/nc/ilm/history/cw.htm
